Typographical composing machines



July 29, 1958 P. HILPMAN 2,845,170

TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPOSING MACHINES Filed April 2, 1957 INVENTOR. PAUL H/LPMAN Unitad States atent TYPoGRAPHrcAL COMPOSING MACHINES Paul Hilprnan, Garden City, N. Y., assignor to Morgenthaler Linotype Company, a corporation of New York Application April 2, 1957, Serial No. 650,195

Claims. (Cl. 199-27) This invention relates to typographical composing machines, such as Linotype machines, wherein matrices, when released from a magazine by the manipulation of a keyboard, pass downwardly through a vertical channeled raceway or front plate and onto the upper stretch of an inclined endless conveyor belt from which they pass through an assembler throat or chute to an assembler or assembling elevator, wherein they are composed in line under the influence of a constantly rotating star wheel.

As ordinarily constructed, the assembler chute comprises a curved bottom wall on to which the matrices are discharged by the conveyor belt and a top wall (commonly known as a chute spring) which is arranged to engage the matrices from above and confine them to their proper path of travel along the curved bottom wall before they enter the assembler in an upright position.

Although the purpose of the chute spring is to cause the matrices to follow the curvature of the bottom chute wall, it does not always fulfill this purpose, and especially when the machine is operated at high speeds. The main contributing factor is the wide variation in thickness of the matrices, which displace the chute spring different distances and do not allow it to return to its normal position in time to exercise control over succeeding matrices. If the return is delayed too long because of an extremely thick matrix (such as a head letter matrix), the usual prongs at the lower end of the chute spring fail to function at all or snap down upon the upper ends of the matrices as they clear the spring and thus interfere with rather than assist in their assembling. Various other difliculties might mentioned but it is enough to say that, notwithstanding many efforts made to improve the assembling of matrices, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Another common difficulty in matrix assembling is the failure of matrices to enter the assembler in an upright position or to maintain that position after entry. Many matrix straightening-up schemes have been suggested, but these too leave room for improvement, especially since most of the schemes are designed only to take care of the last matrix composed in line.

When the composition of the line does not proceed in the intended way, the matrices frequently become clogged or pile up in the assembler chute and must be removed by hand, slowing up composition and oftentimes causing damage. An improperly composed matrix is almost sure to cause damage, since it may interfere with the raising of the assembler or with the transfer of matrices from the assembler into the intermediate channel. I

The present invention aims to overcome the above and other difliculties and provides a very simple and yet most effective device which will carry out that aim.

Specifically, the improved device is designed to direct an air blast or stream downwardly upon the matrices as they pass through the assembler chute and then against the matrices from behind as they enter the assembler. This is accomplished by forming in the bottom chute wall an air passage terminating at its lower end near the entrance to the assembler and pointing substantially hori- Ice zontally in the direction of line composition. The air flowing from this passage will aid the star wheel in straightening up each matrix as it enters the composed line and maintain it in upright position. An air blast nozzle is arranged near the upper end of the assembler chute and has its discharge end directed downwardly toward the air passage formed in the bottom chute wall. As the matrices travel through the chute, they will temporarily close off the air passage in the bottom wall and be subjected from above to the full air blast, which thus acts to confine the matrices in contact with the curved bottom chute wall and cause them to follow their intended path of travel until they reach the star wheel which then advances them into the assembler with the aid of the air flowing from the air passage.

In the accompanying drawing, the invention has been shown merely in preferred form and by way of example and therefore is not limited to any specific form or embodiment except insofar as such limitations are specified in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the assembling device embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through the assembler chute and star wheel and showing a matrix in course of travel through the chute;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but omitting the matrix in order to show how the air from the nozzle is discharged into the air passage formed in the bottom wall of the chute when uncovered by a passing matrix; and

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

As previously stated, after the matrices X are released from their storage magazine (not shown), they pass downwardly through a channeled raceway or front plate A on to a constantly driven inclined conveyor belt B, which discharges them one after another, in the order of their release, into an assembler throat or chute C leading to an assembling elevator or assembler D. Here, the

matrices and the spacebands Y are stacked in line in the assembler under the influence of a rotary star wheel E. Thereafter, the composed line is transferred to the casting mechanism, all as well understood in the art.

The matrices are formed as usual with upper and lower projecting ears x which generally are located at one side of the matrices, that side being the rear or following one. When, therefore, the matrices are delivered to the conveyor belt B, they will lie upon their rear sides and their projecting cars will pursue substantially the same path to the assembler without regard to the body thickness of the matrices. However, the body thicknesses of the matrices vary widely and this is one of the factors which contributes to improper assembling.

The assembler chute, as usual, comprises a curved bottom Wall 1 on to which the matrices are discharged by the conveyor belt and which is intended to guide the matrices into the assembler, the curvature being such that the matrices are caused to assume an almost vertical position at the time they enter the assembler. The assembler chute also comprises a top wall 2 (better known as a chute spring),-which serves to intercept the traveling matrices and confine them to the curved path defined by the bottom wall. At its lower end, the top wall 2 is formed with a pair of substantially horizontal prongs 3 which are designed to engage and guide the matrices by their upper ears as they assume an upright position just before they enter the assembler. The top wall 2 is resiliently mounted (hence the name chute spring) to accommodate itself to all thicknesses of matrices being composed. However, as before explained, the chute spring, due to the wide variation in thickness of the matrices, does not always function in the intended manner. If the chute spring is not in its normal (undeflected) position at the time a matrix is passing through the chute, the matrix will not always follow the curvature of the bottom wall but will jump ahead in its inclined position and thus fail to be properly presented to the rotary star wheel.

According to the present invention, air blast means are provided to confine the matrices to their intended path of travel, as well as to aid the star wheel in advancing the matrices in upright position into the assembler. In the embodiment illustrated, the air blast means comprises an air discharge nozzle 4 arranged near the upper end of the assembler chute and which points downwardly in the direction of travel of the matrices. The bottom wall of the chute is formed with an air passage of inverted Y form, presenting an upper wide recess 5 and two lower narrower diverging recesses 6 forming continuations of the upper recess. At their lower ends, the two diverging recesses 6 are pointed toward the assembler entrance, being arranged at a level and at such distance apart that the two air streams will impinge against the upper ears of the matrices as they enter the assembler (see Figs. 3 and 4).

Hence it will be seen that, when a matrix passes through the assembler chute (see Fig. 2), it will be subjected from above to an air blast from the nozzle 4 and held down upon the curved bottom wall of the chute, even though the top wall or chute spring may not be in position at the time to exert its guiding infiuence. In other words, the air blast will do the guiding under such conditions and, moreover, will exert a propelling force in the direction of travel of the matrix to speed up its delivery to the star wheel. After the matrices pass beyond the upper recess 5 the air blast will enter that recess and then be directed against the rear face of the matrix to exert a straightening up influence thereon as well as a forward facewise displacement thereof, thus aiding the star wheel to advance the matrix in proper upright position into the assembler. Since the two lower diverging recesses 6 terminate behind the upper ears of the matrix, the air streams will continue to exert a straightening up influence on the matrix after it has entered the assembler. In this connection, it may be noted that the assembler, at its entrance end, is formed with a pair of spring pawls which snap behind the last composed matrix after it has entered the assembler.

While the air blast is intended primarily to aid in the composition of matrices in the foregoing manner, it is worthy of mention that it will also serve to cool and clean the matrices as they pass through the assembler chute. The matrix propelling influence of the air blast is also advantageous, apart from the straightening up effect.

The air blast nozzle may be connected to any suitable source of supply, as for example to the blower shown and described in the Bramblett Patent No. 2,170,005. The velocity of the air flow may be regular as desired, although it need not be of any great magnitude.

What is claimed is:

1. A typographical composing mechanism including, in combination, a horizontally disposed assembler wherein the matrices are composed in line, an inclined conveyor belt for delivering the matrices to the assembler, an assembler chute leading downwardly from the discharge end of the belt to the entrance to the assembler, a stacking element arranged to engage the matrices one after another as they leave the chute and advance them into the assembler, and means for directing an' air blast downwardly upon the matrices as they pass through the assembler chute to aid them in being properly presented to the stacking element.

2. A typographical composing mechanism including, in combination, a horizontally disposed assembler wherein the matrices are composed in line, an inclined conveyor belt for delivering the matrices to the assembler, an assembler chute leading downwardly from the discharge end of the belt to the entrance to the assembler, said assembler chute comprising a bottom curved wall to support the traveling matrices from below and a top wall to intercept the traveling matrices and deflect them downwardly upon the bottom wall, and means for directing an air blast downwardly upon the bottom wall of the chute to aid in confining the matrices to their proper path of travel as they pass along said wall.

3. A typographical composing mechanism including, in combination, a horizontally disposed assembler wherein the matrices are composed in line, an inclined conveyor belt for delivering the matrices to the assembler, an assembler chute leading downwardly from the discharge end of the belt to the entrance to the assembler, said assembler chute comprising a bottom curved Wall to support the traveling matrices from below and a top wall to intercept the traveling matrices and deflect them downwardly upon the bottom wall, and means for directing an air blast downwardly upon the bottom wall of the chute and in the direction of travel of the matrices to aid in confining them to their proper path of travel as they pass along said wall.

4. A typographical composing mechanism including, in combination, a horizontally disposed assembler wherein the matrices are composed in line, an inclined con veyor belt for delivering the matrices to the assembler, an assembler chute leading downwardly from the discharge end of the belt to the entrance to the assembler, a stacking element arranged to engage the matrices one after another as they leave the chute and advance them into the assembler, and means for directing an air blast downwardly upon the matrices as they pass through the assembler chute to aid them in being properly presented to the stacking element, said air blast means comprising a fixed nozzle arranged near the upper end of the chute and having its discharge end directed downwardly toward the bottom wall of the chute and in the direction of travel of the passing matrices.

5. A typographical composing mechanism including, in combination, a horizontally disposed assembler wherein the matrices are composed in line, an inclined conveyor belt for delivering the matrices to the assembler, an assembler chute leading downwardly from the discharge end of the belt to the entrance to the assembler, a stacking element arranged to engage the matrices one after another as they leave the chute and advance them into the assembler, and means for directing an air blast against the matrices from behind as they enter the assembler to aid the stacking element in straightening them up.

67 A typographical composing mechanism including, in combination, a horizontally disposed assembler wherein the matrices are composed in line, an inclined conveyor belt for delivering the matrices to the assembler, an assembler chute leading downwardly from the discharge end of the belt to the entrance to the assembler, a stacking element arranged to engage the matrices one after another as they leave the chute and advance them into the assembler, and means for directing an air blast against the matrices from behind as they enter the assembler to aid the stacking element in straightening them up, said air blast means including an air passage formed in the bottom wall of the chute and arranged with its lower end directed substantially horizontally toward the assembler.

7. A typographical composing mechanism including, in combination, a horizontally disposed assembler wherein the matrices are composed in line, an inclined conveyor belt for delivering the matrices to the assembler, an assembler chute leading downwardly from the discharge end of the belt to the entrance to the assembler, a stacking element arranged to engage the matrices one after another as they leave the chute and advance them into the assembler, and air blast means acting upon the matrices as they pass through the chute and as they enter the assembler to aid in their proper delivery intothe assembler.

8. A typographical composing mechanism including, in combination, a horizontally disposed assembler wherein the matrices are composed in line, an inclined conveyor belt for delivering the matrices to the assembler, an assembler chute leading downwardly from the discharge end of the belt to the entrance to the assembler, a stacking element arranged to engage the matrices one after an other as they leave the chute and advance them into the assembler, and means for directing an air blast against the matrices from above as they pass through the chute and then against the matrices from behind as they enter the assembler.

9. A typographical composing mechanism including, in combination, a horizontally disposed assembler wherein the matrices are composed in line, an inclined conveyor belt for delivering the matrices to the assembler, an assembler chute leading downwardly from the discharge end of the belt to the entrance to the assembler, a stacking element arranged to engage the matrices one after another as they leave the chute and advance them into the assembler, and means for directing an air blast against the matrices from above as they pass through the chute and then against the matrices from behind as they enter the assembler, said air blast means including an air passage formed in the bottom all of the chute and arranged with its lower end directed substantially horizontally in the direction of the assembler, and a nozzle having its discharge end arranged to direct the air into said air passage.

10. A combination according to claim 9, wherein the air passage is formed by an upper central recess and two lower diverging recesses leading from the central recess and arranged to discharge air against the upper ears of the matrices as they enter the assembler.

15 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 800,971 Bellows Oct. 3, 1905' 2,491,367 Fine Dec. 13, 1949 20 2,791,320 Rossetto May 7, 1957 

